Pulling a Regular Credit Report Can Prevent Identity Theft

Identity theft is something that most people do not worry about. The reason for this is simply that the whole idea of identity theft seems like a farfetched concept to most people. However, identity theft is a real and present danger especially in the modern age where technology is the basis of virtually everything.
There are not many ways through which a person can prevent himself from being a victim of identity theft except for keeping his personal information safe. However, there are many people who have been victimised by identity thieves despite keeping their personal information safe.

Fortunately, there is a way through which you can keep a track on your personal information and be able to check if you are a victim of identity theft. This way is for you to pull your credit report at regular intervals.

While it is true that your credit report carries your credit history and personal information, it is also true that it would contain other information. When you pull your credit report, you get access to information regarding third parties who have accessed your credit report as well.

This means that in the last two years, instances of your credit report being accessed by a third party organisation would be recorded in your credit report itself. This is highly beneficial because it allows you to keep up with the organisations and individuals who have accessed your credit report.

Therefore, while you are going through your credit report, if you find an enquiry from some third party organisation or individual that you do not recognise then you can follow through and figure out whether the enquiry was legitimate or not.

For example, if someone steals your identity and applies for a credit account to be opened in your name then the creditor approached by the identity thief would check your credit report. Therefore, this gives you a way to not only detect cases of identity theft but also help the authorities to catch the culprit.

This is, by far, the most certain way for you to keep a track of your credit history and prevent identity theft from occurring. Moreover, this process is also considered to be very beneficial for people looking to improve upon or fix their credit history.

The reason for this is simply that as you pull your credit report, you get access to the same information that potential creditors will see. Therefore, when you see flaws in your report or find that some aspect of your credit history is less than perfect, you can work towards resolving it in a planned manner.

It is important to note here that you are allowed to pull your credit report for free every year. In fact, you are allowed to pull your credit report not only from one credit bureau in South Africa but all three for free, at least once every year.

An individual in the modern world is especially at risk from identity thieves and similar types of criminals. Therefore, it is extremely important for you to not only protect yourself against these risks by keeping your personal information safe but also by monitoring your credit report.

When you check your credit report at regular intervals and check your credit history, you are achieving exactly this.